- A website for the film
- A film magazine front cover promoting my film
- A movie poster for my film
This task required me to produce three different media texts. The first text which i produced was the film trailer. I was required to plan, develop and construct my media products using the new knowledge and skills which i have acquired during my A2 media studies.
Before i could even begin to think about producing the film trailer i had to carry out extensive research on other media products in order for me to note the codes and conventions of film trailers. During this process i also had to think about the different conventions which go with the different genres of film, in order to help me define the conventions which my trailer would require for the genre of my film and also i had to think about how i would make my product reach the target audience which i had invisioned.
I began this process by reseaching into the film industry as a whole as i believe this gave me a greater insight into the whole process which goes into the film production industry, from pre-production to post-production and finally release and distribution. Although this information wasnt going to impact directly on my products, i believe it helped me to undertstand the processes involved more clearly, whilst also introducing me to the many different film production companies that are established and the types of films which they produce. I based my research for this around firstly the film industry as a whole, however then i targeted the main film production companies such as;
- Paramount Pictures Corportation
- Warner Bros
- Walt Disney
- 20th Century Fox
- Sony Pictures
I researched into the backgrounds of these main organisations looking into who founded them, how long the companies have been established, what their net worth is, along with the companies profit margins, the type of films which they produce and also the subsidiary companies linked with them. After conducting all of this preliminary research on the film industry i feel it gave me a wider knowledge of the film industry and this knowledge influenced some of the ways in which i produced some of my media products.
Using this research as a basis, i then began to extend my knowledge of my first medium of film trailers. Firstly be watching a variation of different genre film trailers in order to research into the different conventions used for the different film genre. For example action film trailers such as 'Bad Boys 2' tend to have shots shown in fast sucession with short snippets of the film being shown each time, giving the trailer a fast and dramatic pace which has the effect of drawing the audience into the film and exciting them. Action film trailers also showed more explosion shots, with fast cars, guns being fired and CU fighting shots, whereas Romantic films where completely different to this approach, with the camera shots being long containing lots of dialogue, they also tended to use fades and slow cuts from scene to scene in order to convey the calm and tranquil atmosphere with the movie has. The location also tend to be more awe inspiring and beautiful.
This however was only the base from which i had to build on in order to learn more and more about film trailers in order for me to create the best possible product which i could.
- Researched typical length of film trailers
- researched shot types and familiarised myself with camera angles and shots again (From AS)
- Researched into different film directing styles - Quentin Tarrantino
Using this extensive research i then decided to begin planning my main medium, the teaser trailer for my film. The first step i took was to begin to gather many different ideas for the type of film which i wanted to produce. During these planning stages i came up with many different ideas some of which where;
- A horror film. The idea i had for this genre was to show a student coming back from college/university after just finishing his exams and graduating with a degree in Law. Many years ago his twin brother had been murdered and the killer had never been found. He wants to become a detective so he can investigate and find his brothers killer. However during his party where he invites all of his friends, exactly 5 years ago to the day that his brother disappeared the clock strikes midnight and the killer returns
- However i ended up going with the idea of 'Truth or Dare', a thriller about a US marine who uncovers a secret weapon which America are keeping quiet. A lot of people do not want this information getting out and soon the soldier who fought for his country finds his country have turned on him and the hunter becomes the hunted. Jack Johnson is attacked by a professional government assassin and he must use all of his skills to stay alive and tell the news of America's weapons which could cause world wide devestation. In the end Jack johnson manages to evade being captured or killed by the assassin and releases the secret with the world.
During the idea stage of my planning i had to continuously visualise how i thought the idea would look and the type of camera shots and scene which i would like to show to my audience. I decided to storyboard a select few of these different scenes to try and visualise how they would look on screen to see if the shots would convey my story through to the audience.
- During this stage i had to take some time to research into who the audiences where for the different genres of film and who i wanted to direct my film towards. To begin this researching process i began to research audience types on the internet. During this, i discovered the different codes and conventions of the different genres which are typically associated with this genre. (For example; for horror films people generally expect to see some form of killer of evil horror, the locations tend to be remote, run down and dark and dingy locations with a spooky sound track, whereas for an action film people expect to typically see; fast car chases, fighting combat scenes, weapons - gun shooting, explosions, etc. I also discovered that Horror films and Action films are generally associated as having a typically larger male audience, with females tending to watch more romance films 'Chick Flicks' or family and fantasy films. Whilst undertaking this research i decided to look at the audience for a range of film genres and try and discover what people expected to see from the varying genres. In order for me to gather a more reliable source of information i produced a questionnaire (AS SHOWN BELOW) to try and discover what types of scenes, locations, storylines, characters, props etc which people often associate with the different genres of film.
Using this information helped me in order to firm up my idea of the type of film which i was producing. In the final decision stages i decided to opt for my thriller film as i encountered a few problems which would occur with the filming of my horror movie. For example i would have liked to have filmed most of my scenes in the dark, however this created many problems as in doing this the quality of my filming was significantly reduced and when trying to film it in normal daylight and put a dark gel screen over the top during the editing process to darken the shot still didnt produce the natural effect of darkness which i wanted my scenes to have.
With this decision in mind i had my chosen idea of Truth or Dare, which after i had the full narrative of the story in place i decided would fit the genre of thriller/drama and Action, with it being a mixture of genres. I then decided that if i wanted to incorporate all of these genres in my film than it would mean i had the task of including the typical conventions of each genre into my production. Although this seemed like a tricky task i decided to try and begin planning how i could input all of these different ideas from the different genres into my film. I also had to think about my target audience. In the end i decided that being as i was making the film using my friends and i could identify with the younger age group myself, i decided that i would target my audience at young males aged between 15-40. Now that i had an age range to focus my attention on, i began adapting my general idea to delve into the story with more detail whilst also drafting some initial ideas for possible locations and possible snippets of speech which i could show.
After this initial planning stage i had a firm idea of my story which i wanted to tell and began work on creating my synopsis, script, shooting scrip and storyboard. Before producing any of these elements i again went back to researching into the codes and conventions of all of these media texts. For example i looked into the formatting set up of a professional shooting film script and set my script out following these guidlines. I also researched into what type of information is included in a film synopsis which is the main selling point of a film. This introduced me to the concept of writing a small amount whilst still encapsulating the narrative of the film whilst also making it sound as exciting and dramatic to engage my target audience. After first producing the synopsis for Truth or Dare i then began to work on my script after researching a range of sample scripts from action films and thrillers such as; 'Terminator 2' and 'Bad Boys 2' in order to discover how the action sequences are written in the script whilst still keeping the same level of excitement and action on the page as it would look on the screen. I then began writing my script, however i decided on including some dialogue between the characters but, due to the fact that i wanted to have a dramatic and powerful song playing over the top with lots of dramatic scenes i decided that it would work better if i included a voice over in my trailer to inform my target audience on what is happening whilst not straying away from the action which is going to excite my audience and draw them into my film.
Before i began work on the storyboard i decided to go and have a look for some possible locations for my film. Using my research for this type of film i discovered that dark and dingy places, desolate urban places and dangerous looking rough areas would have the best look for my film. With this in mind i went to look for possible locations, taking my script with me so that i could visualise some of the scenes happening in the possible locations. After choosing my various locations such as the abandoned warehouses near some docks, a wooded area and an underpass i then began to use the idea of these possible locations to begin to construct my storyboard. During this process i looked at some established movie storyboards from films such as Jaws in order for me to get an idea of how a storyboard should look.
After producing these elements towards my main medium i used this to help me during the shooting of my film. I used the skills which i had acquired at the end of my AS course when i was given three weeks to produce a the begining of a film. The shooting process allowed me to be creative in the way in which i shot particular scenes and shoot in different styles in order to try and recreate what i had visualised that my film would look like. Continually, during the film process i had to keep in mind that i was telling a story to my target audience of young people and therefore that impacted on the way in which i shot my film. For example my target audience influenced the types of locations where i shot such as a graffitied underpass with gang tags which is stereotypically associated with young people and so young people would be able to associate with the location. I also choose to include a prop machine gun for the filming as young people tend to be more interested in action films with weapons and shootouts between the good guys and the baddies, a good example of this being the James Bond movies. Using the knowedge i had collected from my AS media studies on camera shots and angles i made the decision to film most of my film CU as i discovered that this was more of an 'in your face' style of shooting which engaged directly with the audience and forced them to pay attention to what they where seeing, drawing them into the action on screen and keeping hold of their attention.
After i had completed the filming i advanced onto the editing stage of the process of creating my main medium. I went into this process with some limited knowledge of the editing process and some of the basic effects which you can create whilst editing your film, as this was included at the end of my AS course. However before i began to start editing my film at A2 i fimiliarised myself with the different tools and software. Having previously already had initial ideas for editing my film during the planning stages of my product i came into the process with some already developed ideas of how i visualised my film to look on screen. The initial ideas which i took into this process where that i wanted my film to have a fast and grittty look to add to the realism of my product and to try and create a verisimilitude between my film and reality. After my first complete edit of my product, after careful consideration i decided that the trailer didnt have the effect which i had envisioned. The trailer progressed too slowly and lacked the dramatic effect which i wanted it to have. Therefore i decided to remould my film, cutting the scenes shorter and adding more shots with simple straight cuts or cross cuts in order to create a fast and exciting pace to my trailer which is the typical conventions of action and thriller film trailers.
After i had structured my film and shaped the way into what i wanted it to look like i then experimented with the speed of some of my scenes and the edits from one scene to advance onto the next. During this i learnt some new skills; for example i discovered how to speed up a scene or how to slow down a scene to have it in slow motion. I used the slow motion effect, placing it over the scene where i am showing the main character walking with a CCTV effect. The slow motion helps to create a mood of panic and stress whilst also giving the effect that my main character is being followed by the camera. I also added a green gell over this scene to give the scene an effect of night vision to create the effect that my character is being followed at night as i believe it gave it an element of danger. I also learnt more new skills in the way off light orbs, which i placed in some scenes to reflect the sunny day, as one of the main effects which i always wanted during the filming of my product was for it to look and feel realistic without it being too unrealistic. During the editing process i also learnt how to add music and sound effects over the film and how to experiment with the sound by making it louder or quieter or by dissolving one scene into another, i found this process initially difficult, however though trial and error and by keeping experimenting and constantly discovering new effects i soon became more and more confident with the editing process and now feel comfortable using the editing software as i feel it has developed my skills vastly.
Throughout the whole production of my film i interlinked many different conventions from the thiller/drama and action genres. The conventions which i input into my product was the fast-paced editing with straight cuts to create pase and adrenaline pumping action, i also took the typical location types from the thiller genre such as desolate and dangerous looking 'rough' areas, i also choose to have the stereotypical heroic figure for my film of the dominant male figure of Jack Johnson who is prepared to fight for what he believes in. I also took typical conventions from the drama genre by intertwining some really fast scenes with a really slow dramatic scene of my main character talking or carrying out an activity. I also tried to use juxaposition by having a sunny scene with my character walking along and immediately cutting to the scene next to it where my character is running through a dark and dangerous looking underpass. Although dialogue is a common convention to any film trailer i decided to omit this as too much dialogue was taking away the fast paced continuous action look which i wanted my film to endear to. Instead i have included a few dialogue scenes with some important dialogue being exchanged between the main characters and then choose to have a voice over running over some scenes to provide the audience with snippits of the story whilst not giving too much away or straying from the action on screen. I believe my product follows the same conventions of sucessful films such as bad boys 2 or just recently the film Green Zone, which are films of the same nature as mine.
After i'd completed the production of the film i began research for my two ancilliary texts which where a movie poster and a film magazine with my film being on the front cover. Having previously produced a magazine as part of my AS media course i was fimiliar with computer software such as Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Photoshop C32 which are the two pieces of software which i used in order to create both my magazine and my film poster. Again before i began to think about production or even draft ideas i began to research into the industry of film magazines such as Empire and Total Film which are the two biggest movie magazines at the moment. I researched into their ideologies and target audiences and discovered that both magazines tended to be aged at young people aged between about 16-30 as, after researching into the cinema and age groups i discovered that typically the younger age groups attend the cinema more regularly than the older age ranges. I then went on to critically analyse three well-known front covers from both of the institutions, which gave me a wider knowledge of the typical conventions of film magazines such as the type of images which they include, the amount of text on the front cover or even small things such as where the price and barcode tend to be placecd. After critically analysing these front covers and using the knowledge i had gained on target audiences and the ideologies of well established film magazines i began to draft some of my own ideas constantly changing the content on the page and placing things in different areas of the magazine to try and create an effect which i felt looked good enough to look like a professional movie magazine front cover. I then posted all of these ideas on my blog and asked people to decide which of my designs they liked, using these results i then began work on the choosen design. Firstly, i took a digital camera and tried to recreate some of the picture designs which i had had. I used a blue room and used various lighting techniques in order to experiment with different effects which the lighting could create, the effect which i was trying to achieve was quite a dramatic and heroic warrior. After editing my image on photoshop C32 i inputted it into my movie magazine. I then began to design my magazine around my image, i also used the reseach i had gathered and choose to add a picture of a apocalyptic and war torn scene to signify to the audience some elements which are included in my film. I also felt this made the image of my main character standing in front of this scene look more heroic which is the effect which i had been wanting to create.
For the main title of my magazine and some of the sub-headings i used a website called http://www.dafont.com/ to download some possible fonts for my magazine front cover. I then collected a range of fonts and even found some Hollywood fonts which i could input into my front cover to make it seem more interesting and more creative than just using simple word art. Using all of the codes and conventions i arranged to content around the page to create my movie magazine front cover, choosing a MS image of my films hero standing facing out to the audience, holding a prop weapon signifying the action element of my film to the audience whilst the apocalyptic background also indicates the dramatic and thriller end of the world idea which is a feature in my production. After finishing my first design i decided that i would also try to create some of my other designs in order for me to see what they all looked like after they had been properly produced so that i could get an idea of which cover i felt looked best and also appealed more to my target audience of young people. Therefore in order to try and achieve this i asked a select few young people aged between 16-21 to look at all of the possible covers now that they had been produced and asked them which they would be more influenced to purchase, which cover they thought looked best, which cover they thought was the most eye-catching and stood out and also i had got the right amount of text in relation with the images on my front cover. I believed that the best way to check if i was hitting my target audience would be to go directly to my target audience and ask them for their views. I found this information really helpful and after making some changes i had my produced final magazine front cover. Although, having done this as part of my AS media course, i did generally find the whole process easier as i already had previous experience in producing movie magazine front covers and went into the project with already knowledge on the typical codes and conventions of magazines, however i still felt that there where certain challenges for example finding the right compnents such as font and picture to get the to look good on the page. I feel that my magazine worked well, not only due to the fact that i had previous experience, but also due to the research of existing media products such as Total Film magazine and Empire magazine i tried to model my magazine around these two well-established and highly sucessful products, especially Empire which has been producing magazines since July 1989. As empire have been producing magazines for twenty years it is clear that they have a regular audience and are obviously selling magazines to their target audience which is turn generating their income so it is obvious that by the fact that they are still producing magazines and are the biggest movie magazine around at the moment that they are obviously successful and therefore researching into their institution was vital for me in order to learn more of how they have achieved their high levels of success.
Also after researching in the magazine and print industry as part of this years course, whilst also having previous knowledge from researching into this industry as part of my AS media course i discovered that there are only two established magazines in the industry directed at the film industry whilst there are many magazines targeted towards music, health and fitness and womens interest magazines. This means that there is a gap in the market for another film magazine which means that my magazine wouldnt be pushed out by lots of other magazines which means my product would fit in the market as currently their is only a small market for magazines on film. And also during my research i discovered that their prices where around £4 which seems quite expensive and could indicate that these two institutions are targeting maybe a wealthier class of people who have got more money to continually go to the cinemas, this could be an area in which my magazine could compete with the other two already established magazines by lowering prices to compete with them for sales.
After completeing both my main medium of the film trailer and then the first of my ancilliary texts of a film magazine front cover advertising my film i came onto the final ancilliary text which was to produce a film poster advertising my film. Due to the fact that all of my products needed to be in some way interlinked with each other this meant that i made the decision to use the same picture and the same background to make the link between all of my media texts easily distinguishable. I followed the same process making the poster as i had done with my previous media texts, firstly by researching into movie posters and critically analysing some well known film posters to discover their codes and conventions and also to find out what makes an effective and eye-catching movie poster and the sort of things which dont need to be included. Again i used photoshop C32 and Microsoft Publisher to construct this product editing my pictures before designing my poster on micrsoft publisher. Again i also referred to the website http://www.dafont.com/ in order for me to again create more interesting and creative fonts as my movie poster needed to look attractive and appealing as again it the is main form of advertising my film. I also researched into the different sizes of movie posters such as a poster in a bus stop compared with movie posters on the sides of buses or posters on billboard or even posters contained in magazines or newspapers.
For all of my three productions it enabled me to use some of the skills i had previously acquired from AS level for example photo editing, how to take good quality photo's using light and props to create varying effects, how to critically analyse existing media texts and draw information out of them. However, during my A2 practical productions i have gathered many more skills which have contributed to the making of my media products. For example i have gained a greater understanding of the whole filming process and how something may appear natural on the screen, however it has been shot in that certain way in order to convey that specific message to the audiences. I have learnt how to use the editing software Premier Pro Tools and learnt how to apply different effects on my productions such as apply gels to turn the scene a different colour, add times and clocks, add text over a scene, play two scenes on top of each other, alter the music and sound effects and finally how to razor scenes and cut scenes so that you can move them around and structure them in any order. I also learnt more of the film and magazine and print industries which helped enable me to produce my three media texts.
In conclusion i thoroughly enjoyed the task of producing my three mediums which where a film trailer, a movie poster and a movie magazine front cover. I now feel comfortable using computer software such as Photoshop c32 and Premier Pro Tools editing software. I feel that i was able to be more flexible and creative with these projects; unlike with the AS course when i was told what medium i had to produce and what the media text had to be based upon. This years production has given me control over my own learning and enabled me to explore the areas of the media which appeal to me and interest me the most. Through doing this i have gained a vast knowledge of two areas of the media; film and the print and magazine industry. I also felt my creativity was allowed to be demonstrated more as i was allowed to produce and design my own ideas and develop them without being controlled to make a specific product.
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